Avalanche!
by Hamato Kameko
Summary: AU, OC - After an accident leaves them trapped alone together, Wildwing and Emerald are forced to do a little 'bonding'.
1. Part I

**Disclaimer: **The Mighty Ducks and all related characters are © Walt Disney Entertainment and are used without permission for entertainment purposes only. 'Avalanche!' is © 2005-2007 to Hamato Kameko. The character, Christina Palmetto/Emerald L'Orange, is © 2001-2007 Hamato Kameko.

**Rating:** PG-13 (V, L)

**Summary: **After an accident leaves them trapped alone together, Wildwing and Emerald are forced to do a little 'bonding'.

_A Very Special Thanks to Dropzone, Pigeon and Audobon, for giving me back my muse!_

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

**Avalanche!****  
Part I**

"Heh, did we luck out or what?"

"Yeah, but I can't help but feel a little sorry for the gang, you know?"

Emerald smirked and helped herself to another slice of pizza from the pie she and Wildwing had ordered.

"Wildwing, c'_mon_, we got outta posin' with gigantic dancin' candy bars. Personally, I'm too thrilled wit' that fact to waste time feelin' sorry for everyone else."

Wildwing chuckled at the mental image she'd conjured, and took a long sip of his soda. "I guess you've got a point. Nice to have a relaxing afternoon _without_ personal appearances. Or Dragaunus, for that matter."

"Yeah. Ol' Lizard Lips had been pretty quiet, lately. Why does that make me nervous?"

"Because..." He took another slice of pizza and took a bite, chewing thoughtfully before finally finishing, "The longer we go between detecting activity from him, the worse his next plan tends to be."

Emerald sat back and frowned. "Yeah, that _would_ be it." Wildwing nodded before glancing up at a waitress that was hovering nearby. Neither Duck recognized the girl, who looked to be about sixteen, but they both smiled as she finally drummed up the courage to come up to their table. She wanted to say something, but couldn't quite get her mouth to work. Wildwing helped her out.

"Hi there."

"H-Hi!" There was a lengthy silence, and it was obvious that she still wanted to talk, but just couldn't. Wildwing just smiled kindly.

"So, I'm Wildwing..." he extended a hand and the girl managed to return the gesture, though she forgot to let go. He nodded across the table, "And this is Emerald. But I'm guessing you already knew that. So, what's your name? You must have just started working here; I don't recognize you."

"M-M-Marissa..."

"Nice to meet you, Marissa. Y'know, I'm gonna need that hand back."

She dropped his hand as if she'd been burned. "Oh! I-I'm sorry, I j-just—I'm sorry."

Wildwing just kept smiling; it wasn't the first fan that had experienced a mental meltdown at the sight of the Ducks. And the girls were the worst, especially when it came to Wildwing. Emerald chuckled and withdrew a pen from her vest, then reached across the table and poked Wildwing with it. He took it and nodded at Marissa.

"Would you like an autograph?"

She nodded. "I-I'm a really big fan..." She looked over at Emerald, who also reached out and shook the human's hand, grinning.

"Heh, we kinda figured that. Nice to meet you."

"Marissa. How do you spell that?" Wildwing had retrieved a napkin from the dispenser and was busy scrawling out 'To our biggest fan'. Marissa spelled her name for him ("One r, but two s's – everyone gets that backwards.") and he signed his name to it. He handed the pen back to Emerald, who likewise jotted her note on a napkin before signing her name with a dramatic flourish.

"Here ya go."

"Thank you! Wow, this is so cool! My friends are _never_ gonna believe this! Thanks!" She scurried off, disappearing into the kitchen with her prizes.

Emerald grinned and drained the rest of her soda.

"Y'know, that never gets old."

Wildwing set a 20 bill down withtheir check and nodded. "Yeah, as long as it's one or two at a time. But that mob mentality can be a little scary sometimes." He rose and started for the door.

"Ch'yeah, I'll say. Nosedive an' I literally got knocked down a couple of weeks ago by this group o' kids on a field trip at th' mall. What kinda school takes kids to a shoppin' mall for a field trip, anyway?"

"Maybe they were learning something about money," he shrugged.

"_I_ never got to go to the mall on a field trip when _I_ was in school."

"Can't say that I did either. But you never—" He was interrupted by a familiar alarm from their coms.

"Figures those lizards would ruin a nice afternoon."

Wildwing couldn't quite contain his own sigh as he took off running for the Pond. "Time for a—"

"I _know_, I _know!_ Time for a quick change! Sheez!" She flinched as she slapped at her com a bit harder than she meant to, activating her battle gear in mid-step.

Less than five minutes later, they'd powered up the Aerowing and taken to the sky.

"Wing, I still can't raise the guys. They must not be wearing their coms. _Damn_ Phil!"

"It's up to us then. We're almost there."

"The desert. Again. What is _with_ lizards and blistering wastelands?"

Wildwing didn't answer; he was too busy landing the Aerowing. The moment they touched the ground, he was out of his seat and lowering the gangplank. "Let's go!"

"Right behind ya, boss!" She activated her saber and followed him out, only to promptly have a laser singe her ponytail. "Hey! Watch the 'do, Scale-butt!" She managed to deflect a few more shots with her blade, and even batted one of Wraith's own fireballs back at him (much to her delight), before she found Wildwing standing in front of her, shielding her with his armor.

"Em, you see the loose boulders up above the Saurians?"

"Yeah?"

"Think your grappling hook could pull them down?"

She grinned. "I like the way you think, Wing!" Standing half-behind Wildwing, she took careful aim with her left wrist, and fired. The hook hit home, and she grabbed the line with both arms, pulling as hard as she could. The rocks shifted, but didn't fall.

"Wing, I need your help! I'm not strong enough!" Continuing to fire with his right arm, Wildwing grabbed the line with his left and pulled with all his might. The rocks gave way. Unfortunately, the Saurians noticed in time to hit their transporters – but as Siege disappeared, he yelled out one quick threat.

"In about one second, you're gonna be _pâté_, Ducks!" He vanished in mid-laugh, just as a boulder the size of a Volkswagen landed where he'd been standing. Emerald looked up at Wildwing.

"Uh, whaddya think he meant by tha—"

"Look out!" Wildwing knocked her off her feet, shielding her with his body as the mountain above them came crashing down around them.

It took a good two minutes for the rocks to stop moving. Emerald groaned; Wildwing had knocked the wind out of her, and she was still recovering.

"Wing? Y-You all right? ...Yo! Wing! Answer me!"

Wildwing answered with a groan of his own, and she was startled to discover that his beak was right next to her ear. "...Yeah, I'm all right. I think. Ugh, my head... You hurt?"

"Just got the wind knocked outta me. Other than that, I'm fine."

"That was _way_ too close."

"I noticed. Have I told you lately that you're my hero?"

He chuckled. "Thanks. ...Or, you're welcome. ...Or both, I guess."

"So what say we get _outta_ here now?"

"Sounds like a plan." He grunted, bracing his back against the rocks above them and pushing. After a few seconds, he slumped back down, panting from the exertion. Only then did Emerald realize exactly _what_ position they were _in_. She was sprawled on her back, and Wildwing was laying on top of her. Neither one could move more than a few centimeters in the tiny space. Emerald squirmed for a moment, but it didn't help. She finally sighed.

"Well. This is awkward."

"Um." He cleared his throat. "Sorry."

"Yeah, well, at least we're _alive_. But I'm guessin' those rocks ain't movin' anytime soon."

"Half the mountain must have come down on us. I can't move any of it, and even if I did, the shift could crush us."

"Uh, yeah, I think I prefer _this_. Only one thing, Wing."

"What's that?"

"You think you could move your right leg? Your knee armor is startin' to bruise my shin."

"Yeah, well, your belt buckle isn't real comfortable either, just for the record."

"Neither is yours! An' at least _your_ ribcage ain't bein' crushed by _some_body's breastplate!"

"Whaddya want me to _do_ about it?"

"I _want_ you to get your heavy-ass forearm offa my shoulder!"

It took her a second to register that Wildwing had started laughing.

" 'Ey, just _what_ isso damn funny?"

"We've been stuck under here for all of three minutes, and we're already arguing."

Emerald stared at him for a moment, even though all she could actually see was the glowing red eyes of his mask. Then she started to giggle. "Heh, you're right, this is _stupid_. We gotta figure a way _outta_ here."

"Listen, you think you can reach my com to deactivate my armor? That should give us a little more room to... well, move."

Emerald got the distinct impression that Wildwing was blushing. "Uh, yeah, I'll try." It took several minutes of squirming, struggling and cooperating before she'd managed to get her hand up to his wrist.

"Got it."

They both sighed in relief as Wildwing's bulky armor sparkled into nothingness.

"Geez, that was a lot of _work_ for a such a _simple_ task."

"Yeah, but at least we can breathe now. Look, you're just gonna have to excuse me for the time being, because I can only stay in this half push-up for so long. Besides, I can't reach my com if I'm using my hands to hold myself up."

Emerald sighed. "Guess we get to get chummy, eh?" He answered by more-or-less collapsing on top of her.

"We don't have a lot of choice;there'sjust not enough room. I'll try to contact the team. Maybe they're done shooting by now."

"We can only hope. Godyou're heavy! What've you been eatin', anyway?"

"Most recently? Half a medium supreme pizza. The other half of which a certain skinny girl I know somehow managed to inhale. Now will you lay still?"

" 'Ey, whaddya want from me? I'm a _sixteen_-year-old girl with a _twenty_-year-old drake _lyin_' on top o' me!"

"Could we _not_ talk about it? Besides, yelling at each other isn't going to help anything."

"You yelled first," Emerald pointed out. Red eyes blinked down at her, bewildered.

"What are you, four?"

"Just call the guys already, will ya? Or shall I?"

Wildwing sighed, a heavy, annoyed sound that he didn't even bother to conceal. He fumbled for his communicator – it was much easier with his bare hands than it had been with his battle gloves and armor – and flipped it open.

"C'mon guys... Surely, that photo shoot is over by now... Oh, shit. _Ow!_"

"_Ow!_" Emerald yelped simultaneously. "...Sorry 'bout that." She had jumped when he'd cursed – Wildwing _never_ swore, so it had to be serious if he'd slipped up in front of her – and their beaks had knocked together, hard. "So, and I may regret askin' this, but... 'Oh shit' what?"

"Something in the rock is blocking the signal. I can't even connect with the other coms, _or_ Drake One. I can't even raise the Aerowing, and it's only a few hundred feet away." He sighed. "Better try yours, just in case."

She did; nothing happened.

"Well, great. _Now_ whaddya we do?"

He sighed. "The only thing we _can_ do. We wait."


	2. Part II

**Disclaimer: **The Mighty Ducks and all related characters are © Walt Disney Entertainment and are used without permission for entertainment purposes only. 'Avalanche!' is © 2005-2007 to Hamato Kameko. The character, Christina Palmetto/Emerald L'Orange, is © 2001-2007 Hamato Kameko.

**Rating:** PG-13 (V, L)

**Summary: **After an accident leaves them trapped alone together, Wildwing and Emerald are forced to do a little 'bonding'.

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

**Avalanche!****  
Part II**

They'd been trapped for a good ten minutes, and Emerald had had about enough of being stuck _underneath_ Wildwing.

"Can we at least try to, y'know, _reverse_ the situation here? You weigh a hell of a lot more than I do, tub-o."

Red eyes stared down at her – one was bigger than the other, telling her that Wildwing had an eyebrow raised. She snickered at his expression, and he narrowed his eyes slightly – but it was more playful than annoyed.

"It's _muscle_, smartbeak."

"Uh-huh. Heh, _sure_ it is." She couldn't help giggling, and again the mask's eyes reflected Wildwing's expression – he rolled his eyes.

"You were a class clown in school, weren't you?"

"Nah, I was more of a 'sit in the back and harass the teacher' type."

He considered this for a moment, then nodded. "Makes sense."

She blinked at him. Then she smiled wryly. "Touché."

"I have my moments." He pushed himself up slightly. "I'll try to move, but I'm not making any promises that it'll do us any good. Maybe if you move to the left and I move to the right—no, no, _my_ left, _your_ right. Ow!" He sighed. "And if we _both_ watch our beaks..."

"How the hell can ya watch anything in here? It's pitch black!"

"The mask has night vision." He mentally frowned at himself. _'Geez, Wing, that almost sounded like a brag.' _Apparently, Emerald felt the same way.

"Oh, well that's all fine an' dandy for _you... _Maybe I should get Tanya to give me an upgrade... Ow-ow-ow-hold it-stop! You're crushin' my arm!"

Wildwing growled an oath before grumbling, "This isn't working. There's just not enough r—_AUGH!_"

They both screamed as the massive slab of rock that formed a large part of their 'ceiling' shifted, cutting several inches of space from above them and pinning their legs. Fortunately, the rock stopped just short of crushing them, but not before causing them both a significant amount of pain. Neither dared to so much as blink for several long minutes, listening as the hundreds of rocks above them resettled. Finally, Wildwing spoke.

"I think it's stopped."

"Y-Yeah... Yeah, I think you're right... So m-maybe that wasn't the greatest idea..."

"It was worth a try."

"Tell _that_ to my ankle."

"It's not broken, is it?"

"Heh, Wildwing, if somethin' was broken, you'd _definitely_ know about it."

"...I'll take that as a no."

"What about you? Any damage?"

"Nothing some ice packs couldn't cure."

Emerald reached up, presumably to find out how much – or rather, how little – space they now had above them. Her eyes widened when she realized there was barely two inches between Wildwing's back and the rock.

"_Holy_... Thank God you got outta yer armor. That last slide woulda crushed me." Wildwing wasn't sure how to respond to that dismal observation, so he remained silent. Emerald dropped her arm back to her side and stared up, frowning. "So, just how much rock is above us anyway, or, uh, do I want t'know?"

"I dunno. I can't turn my head far enough to look up. Here..." He reached up and slipped his mask off, and before she could ask what he was doing, placed it on Emerald's face.

"What—_whooa_. _Wild_. How're ya supposed to process so much information at one time?"

He chuckled. "You get used to it."

"I guess... So, how d'ya work this thing?"

He pressed his hand against the side of the mask closest to him. "Nothing to it, really. Press on the other side..."

"Oh, yeah… Yeah, I've seen you do it... _Gee_ _whiz_." Emerald paused for a moment, and Wildwing saw the mask's eyes widen slightly. Then she added, "You tell anyone I said that, and I'll murder you."

That time, Wildwing laughed. "Don't worry, I won't. You have my word. Wouldn't want to hurt your 'rep'. Now, just look straight up and concentrate on the information you want."

She was silent for a moment. Wildwing noted that it was very strange to be looking into the eyes of his own mask, but before he could comment on it, Emerald groaned.

"I was right. I _didn't_ want to know."

"That bad, huh?"

"Remember when you said half the mountain musta come down on us? You weren't far from the mark."

"Terrific."

"Guess we might as well get comfortable."

"Yup."

She gave him back his mask, but he didn't put it on.

"It's hot," he explained. "And it's not like there's much to look at, anyway."

"Oh, gee, thanks a _lot_."

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

"Jus' givin' you a hard time, Wing."

After a bit of _very_ careful rearranging, Wildwing managed to fold his right arm under his head. He faced Emerald, and his beak just barely cleared hers when he spoke. It was a much tighter fit, now, and they were indeed having to 'get chummy'.

"This is one day that could be going better."

"Yeah, I'm kinda wishin' I hadn't finished off that soda at lunch."

Wildwing chuckled. "You and me both."

"At least we won't get hungry for a while, considerin' all that pizza we ate."

"Yeah, but the trouble is, the oxygen in this little pocket of ours isn't going to last as long as our stomachs will."

"Oh, ya just _had_ to bring that up, didn'tcha?"

"I'm just making sure you realize—"

"_Hello_, I _work_ with safes and vaults. I _do_ actually understand the whole limited-oxygen thing. Nearly got myself killed once – and lemme tell ya, that's _one_ lesson you never forget. I'm lucky the owner was this Asian old-timer who'd decided I'd been punished enough – Karma, I think, the kind of thing Grin would say – or I'd probably _still_ be in juvy." She sighed. "We're gonna be lucky if we've got an hour. An' _that's_ only if we don't become _pancakes_ first."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you." He knew he sounded slightly stung by her snap at him, and mentally kicked himself for letting her attitude get to him, even a little. Emerald sighed again, and he made a note to tell her to quit – she was wasting oxygen.

"No, _I'm_ sorry. I just... Oh, hell, I just wasn't plannin' on _dyin'_ today, that's all."

He squeezed her shoulder. "We're not going to die. They'll find us."

"Wing, call me fatalistic, but you an' I both know those photo shoots can run for hours. And if they can't even pick up our homin' signals..."

"We're _gonna_ get out of this, Emerald. We should stop talking now; we're wasting oxygen."

She sighed, and Wildwing grit his teeth at the sound – he'd never before noticed how often she did that.

"All right. I just can't believe I'm actually _regrettin'_ missin' a photo shoot."

Every minute under that mound of rock – and in Emerald's case, under a _duck_ as well – felt like an hour. Every so often, Wing would speak up just to see how she was doing, but other than that, the only sound in the would-be tomb was their breathing.

And it was getting hot, as well; two people in such a small space tended to give off a lot of body heat. After fifteen minutes of being trapped, Wildwing removed his mask, and when the eyes of it went dark, Emerald had absolutely nothing at all to look at. She sighed, despite her self-rebuke that doing so merely wasted oxygen.

"If it's any consolation," Wing muttered, as if he'd read her mind, "I'm blind too, now. Mask was just getting too hot."

"Mm. 'Ey, could you move a sec so I can reach my com? This long-sleeved suit's killin' me." A moment later – Wildwing had finally activated her quick change himself, because it was quite simply easier than trying to free her arm – Emerald sighed, slightly more comfortable. "Thanks."

"Mm-hmm."

They returned to silence. The minutes ticked by, a cruel countdown to an almost certain fate. If the team didn't find them within the next forty minutes or so, they'd likely retrieve only corpses.

And those forty minutes were only a rough estimate; it could have been more or less, but it was impossible to tell, in the dark, just how many cracks and pockets there were in the walls of fallen rock around them. Each small space in the rock equaled a few more precious minutes of oxygen, and Emerald prayed there were more than her brief, one-handed inspection of their surroundings had revealed.


	3. Part III

**Disclaimer: **The Mighty Ducks and all related characters are © Walt Disney Entertainment and are used without permission for entertainment purposes only. 'Avalanche!' is © 2005-2007 to Hamato Kameko. The character, Christina Palmetto/Emerald L'Orange, is © 2001-2007 Hamato Kameko.

**Rating:** PG-13 (V, L)

**Summary: **After an accident leaves them trapped alone together, Wildwing and Emerald are forced to do a little 'bonding'.

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

**Avalanche!****  
Part III**

Wildwing could no longer deny the feeling of dread that was filling him. And there was guilt, too. Guilt, because he could think of no way to save them, or at the very least, to save Emerald. Nothing that didn't send a chill down his spine, anyway. As team captain, he was prepared to sacrifice his life, as Canard had done before him, if it meant saving the life of even one of his teammates, but that didn't mean he looked _forward_ to dying.

The fact of the matter was, however, that there _was_ no other way out of this fix, except to hope to DuCaine that the team figured out something was wrong, and _soon_. According to the chronometer in his com, they'd been trapped for half an hour. The air was already becoming noticeably thin, and it wasn't going to be long before they both succumbed to the lack of oxygen.

Closing his eyes, Wildwing finally came to the decision he'd been dreading.

"Emerald..."

"Hm?" She sounded as if she'd fallen asleep. "Whasamattah?" If Wildwing hadn't been so nervous, he would have smiled at how thick her accent was in her groggy state. As it was, he was too nervous to think about it.

"Can you reach your saber?"

"I think so." Her tone was wary, and the pupil of her eye-patch narrowed slightly. "...Why?"

Wildwing swallowed, trying to relieve his dry throat. Was this how Canard had felt before leaping from the Aerowing?

"Listen... we're running out of air. Two people will use it up faster than one. If—"

"_Whoa_, hold it. There is no fucking way on God's green earth that I am going to kill you."

"Emerald, it'll buy the team more time to find y—"

"_Wildwing Flashblade_, you better listen to me _real _carefully: I. Will. Not. Murder. You. Not even to save my own life."

Wildwing grit his teeth and took a steadying breath. He had to admire her loyalty, but God, she was stubborn. Still...

"All right, then..." Emerald yelped and shoved at his hands as he reached into her open vest, seeking her weapon.

"Wildwing! Knock it _off_! Yer just makin' us waste oxygen, y'know! _G-GEEZ!_ Watch where yer _grabbin'_, pal!"

"Whoops! Uh, sorry about that." Ignoring the blush in his cheeks, he persisted until he found her saber and pulled it out. Emerald grabbed blindly for it and tried to wrench it from his grasp.

"No _way_, Wing."

"Em—"

"No fuckin' _way_. I do _not_ want to survive this knowin' that th' only reason I _did_ was because _you're_ dead."

"Emerald—"

"I _don't_ want your _blood_ on my hands."

"Emer—"

"It won't work for you, anyway. Sabers are very personal weapons. They're deliberately made so they don't respond to just anyone, because nobody wants their own weapon turned against them. And the only other person who can use _mine_ is Duke, an' that's only because he helped Tanya put it together."

Wildwing considered this for a moment. Then he narrowed his eyes in determination.

"Then _you're_ going to do it."

"_No_, I'm _not_."

"Consider it an _order_," he growled, frustrated.

"Consider _me_ insubordinate," she snapped back.

"Damn it, Emerald!" Didn't she understand that he was trying to save her _life_?

He let go of the saber and waited a moment, until he was reasonably certain that she'd adjusted her grip on its hilt. Then he grabbed her hand, saber and all, and pulled both to his chest, pressing the blade end against his shirt, directly over his heart. It wasn't easy given the tiny space they had, but he managed it.

"It's the only way, Emerald." Wildwing struggled to keep her from pulling the sword away, and attempted to _force_ her to activate the blade. He tried to pretend he hadn't heard the stifled sob that escaped her as she resisted.

"Wildwing," her voice started choked, but hardened as she continued, "If you make me do this... If you make me kill you, I'll kill _myself_ next."

He froze, unable or unwilling to believe what he'd just heard. But she wasn't finished.

"I'd rather die _with_ you than live a few minutes longer knowin' you're dead. I mean, we're part of a team, an' teammates don't betray each other to save their own skin, right? Hell, _you_ taught me that. An' teammates _sure_ as hell don't kill each other. We... We stand together, we'll _fall_ together." She tugged her saber out of his hand and tucked it back in her vest, continuing quietly, "Like Duke says, all for one an' one for all, y'know? Sure it's a little corny, but..." He felt her shoulders shrug, and he stared at her, stunned.

"But... Emerald..."

"I _know_ you're tryin' to do the noble thing by sacrificin' yerself an' givin' me a few more minutes." She took a slightly labored breath, and Wildwing realized that breathing was becoming difficult. Their struggle had probably cost them several precious minutes. "But I don't want you to."

He shook his head. "But... You're sure? You'd rather..." He couldn't bring himself to say it.

"We all gotta go sometime. But you ain't goin' by my hand."

He slumped, lying back down – not that he'd been up much to begin with – as Emerald continued, forcing himself to relax and thus use as little oxygen as possible.

"Thing is, Wing, I'd rather we died _together_, if we're gonna go today. An' we might as well face it; the team ain't comin'." She paused, and Wildwing was forced to admit to himself that she was probably right – they're chances were slim to none. "I know you want to protect me," she went on, "but killin' yourself won't do that. I don't wanna have tohear you suffer, only to die a few minutes later myself. That ain't a proper way to go for either of us. I'd rather just... y'know, go to sleep, peaceful-like."

Wildwing shook his head slightly. "I'm so sorry, Emerald. I just... I'm sorry."

"Ain't your fault, Wing, you know that."

He sighed, defeated. "I guess we'd better quit talking; we're getting low on air in here."

"Eh, what difference does it make? Five minutes o' talkin' or ten minutes o' silence, give or take, when all there is to think about is the fact that we're about to die an' didn't get a chance to say goodbye to everyone. Personally, I vote we keep talkin'."

Wildwing made a sound that was half-laugh, half moan. "I guess you're right. You wouldn't happen to..." He had to pause to take another breath. His lungs were starting to ache. "You wouldn't be able to explain how _you_ came to be the... the intelligent one today, would you?"

"Hey, I resemble that remark."

He chuckled. "Now you're starting to scare me."

"How so?"

"You're sounding like Chameleon."

"_Whoa_, that _is_ scary. 'Ey, Wildwing..."

"Hmm?"

"I, uh... I don't think I've ever actually told... told you, but..."

She was quiet for a long moment, and Wildwing lifted his head in alarm. "Emerald? You still with me?"

"Yeah, Wing, I'm all right..." She gave his arm a squeeze with her free hand, and he relaxed again, sighing in relief. "It's just... Thank you. Y'know, for everything... For takin' me in, an' givin' me a chance... Heh, for not takin' any o' my bullshit or givin' up on me. Just... for _believin'_ in me, y'know? ...You... You got no idea how much it means to me."

"Hey, I knew you had it in you... I'm proud of you, Emerald. You've come a long way."

"Hm, thanks. Couldn't a' done it without you." They were both quiet for a few minutes, both at a loss for words, before Emerald finally spoke up again.

"'Ey Wing?"

"Hm?"

"What's that word mean, anyway? That word you grumbled... right into my ear earlier, right before the rock moved."

"I shouldn't have said that."

"That ain't what I asked," She pointed out. "I'm guessin' it's some... kinda swearword."

"Never mind."

"_Wildwing_..."

"It doesn't really translate, anyway."

"You can't give me some sort o', y'know, parallel?"

"Why are you so interested, anyway?"

"Jus' curious. I mean, it's obviously somethin' I'd... only hear on Puckworld – or from you guys... and seein' as that _is_ my adopted culture, y'know, it seems only fair... that I know what the word means."

He sighed, rolling his eyes to himself.

" 'Fuck.' "

"Hey, I was just askin'."

"Not _you_. It _means_ 'fuck.' At least, that's the closest I can..." _God_, his lungs were burning. "...think of out of the words you'd know."

"Oh." She tried out the word, and he cringed. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Now stop swearing."

She chuckled. "Yes, sir."

They were silent for a few long moments. Wildwing was thankful when Emerald broke the silence again – apparently, there were some situations where the teenage ability to talk incessantly was a good thing.

"So, what do Puckworlder's believe happens after death? I mean... I know Grin believes in reincarnation... but judging by everyone's reactions to his comments... not all of you do. What do... you believe? I... I mean, do you believe in an afterlife... or reincarnation, or just... y'know, bada bing bada boom, end of story?"

He shrugged. "Beliefs vary on Puckworld, same as here. Just not as much. ...There are groups who believe in one God, some who believe in many... There are agnostics and atheists, too, but to be honest... I find _their_ outlook downright depressing. ...Most are followers of Drake DuCaine, in one... way or another. And we believe... in heaven and hell, just like humans do."

She gave a brief, dry laugh. "I got a good idea o' which direction _I'm_ goin'."

He frowned at her insinuation. "You'll go to heaven."

"Pff, Wing, after all I've done..."

"But you're not that person anymore. You've changed."

"Since when do good deeds erase bad deeds?"

"You've done a lot more good for this planet than bad, Chris. That counts for a lot."

She turned her head slightly to face him – though he only knew this because their beaks bumped. "Been a long time since anyone's called me that... Funny how a nickname kinda took over for my real name, eh? ...I mean, Duke doesn't even call me 'Chris' anymore... 'Cept when he's angry at me... 'Course... he's developed a pretty annoyin' habit of callin' me 'Duckling', but... Ah, I guess it doesn't bother me that much... after all. Not as annoying as Nosedive calling me... 'Patch', anyway."

Wildwing chuckled, though it was a choked sound – there simply wasn't enough air. "I dunno, I think it's kinda cute... It's fitting, at any rate."

"...'Ey, Wing... Is there hockey in heaven?"

"It wouldn't be... _heaven_ without hockey."

"Heh, I'll take that as a... as a yes."

"Hm... Wish you'd had the chance... to see Puckworld, Em... You'd of loved it."

"Below freezing temperatures... sounds real good in this oven... Must be a beautiful place."

"It is. Or at least, it was... But I'm sure they've rebuilt by now."

"It's been barely two years. ...How much rebuilding... can they have managed...?"

"We built our headquarters... in just a couple of months... Just the six of us... And _it's_ underground."

"Hmm... Heck, if they move that fast... I bet there's not much... sign of the invasion left."

"I like to think... that things are back... back to normal... at least for the most part."

"Do you know what... happened to your... family? Your parents?"

"...No. It was the middle of the day... everyone was at work... or school... Our dad was in one... one of the first buildings... in the city to be hit... don't know if he made it out... we never heard about Mom."

"...I'm sorry."

"...So was I... I've tried to tell myself... that they're alive... starting over... But I think that's wishful... wishful thinking more than... anything."

They were quiet for a few more minutes, and yet again, it was Emerald who spoke first.

"You ever think... think it'd end like... this? Buried alive? Heh... with _me_, for... for that matter?"

"Not... Not really..." He chuckled briefly. "Fate's funny... like that, I guess..." There was another lengthy silence, filled only by their increasingly labored breathing. Each silence was longer than the last. He heard Emerald take a deeper, more determined breath, trying to get enough air to speak.

"...You afraid?"

Wildwing was silent a moment before admitting, "...Yeah." He heard her swallow hard.

"...Me too."

He fumbled in the dark and took Emerald's hand, interlocking his fingers with hers. She squeezed his hand weakly, taking comfort in the gesture. Wildwing was glad that he could at least do that much to ease her fear.

"...We're together... though... You were... right, Em... It's better... this way..."

But he never got an answer. Emerald's grip on his hand became limp; the glowing red light of her eye-patch went dark. Wildwing swallowed past the lump in his throat.

"...'Bye... kiddo..."

Wildwing closed his eyes, and did what he'd sworn he'd never do without first completing his mission to stop the Saurians.

He surrendered.


	4. Part IV, INCOMPLETE

**NOTE: This chapter is INCOMPLETE.**

**Disclaimer: **The Mighty Ducks and all related characters are © Walt Disney Entertainment and are used without permission for entertainment purposes only. 'Avalanche!' is © 2005-2007 to Hamato Kameko. The character, Christina Palmetto/Emerald L'Orange, is © 2001-2007 Hamato Kameko.

**Rating:** PG-13 (V, L)

**Summary: **After an accident leaves them trapped alone together, Wildwing and Emerald are forced to do a little 'bonding'.

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

**Avalanche!****  
Part IV**

"Wing? Wing, bro, please!"

"_Breathe_, damn you! Wildwing, I _know_ you can hear me!"

Wildwing was vaguely aware that somebody was talking to him, but couldn't put faces behind the voices. He was comfortable here, in this mostly quiet, calm darkness. He rather wished they'd go away and leave him alone to sleep.

"Wildwing, _please!_ Don't give up! Come on! It's me, your baby bro!" The familiar voice was cracking; its owner was starting to cry. Another, female voice cut across the first, just as close.

"Come on, Wildwing... please... don't give up on us..."

"_WILDWING!_"

Wildwing. That was his name. And that voice—

His eyes flew open, squinting closed again in the bright light, as he reflexively breathed deep, oxygen filling his lungs, flooding his body. Oh, oxygen. He'd never take it for granted again.

Something was in his throat – an emergency respirator, forcing air into his lungs; somebody was pulling it out now, to let him breathe on his own.

Arms were around his neck, something warm and wet was dripping onto his beak. Wildwing forced his eyes open, to find his brother kneeling over him, crying and laughing in relief, nuzzling his beak in an act of affection the teenager normally avoided like the plague when anyone else was around. Wildwing reached up with one hand – his arm felt terribly heavy – and placed it against the side of Nosedive's face.

"It's alright, Dive," he rasped, his voice so rough it hardly sounded like him at all. "I'm okay, baby bro. I'm okay."

"D-Don't _do_ that to me! You scared me to death!"

Where he'd only been weakly attempting to lift his head, Wildwing suddenly found the strength to sit bolt upright, startling and knocking heads with his brother.

"Emerald! Where is she? Is she okay?"

Mallory, who'd grabbed one of his arms to steady him when he's sat up, cut him off.

"She's alive. She's breathing. That's... That's all we know right now. Tanya and Duke are with her. Listen, can you stand? We need to get back to the Pond." Wildwing nodded, a icy cold feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Help me up." He had to lean heavily on Mallory and Nosedive, but he did manage to walk up the ramp and into the Aerowing. With Nosedive flying the Aerowing and Mallory and Duke (rather reluctantly) driving the Migrator, they returned home.

x x x

It had been more than four hours since the team had managed to dig them out of the rockslide, and Emerald still hadn't regained consciousness. She was in a coma, but a very light one. According to Tanya, there was no reason for her to not yet have woken up, and that was what worried her the most. Duke was sitting next to her bed, holding her hand and occasionally speaking to her softly, trying to wake her. Wildwing, who'd found himself rather forcefully pushed onto one of the medi-beds, tried to reassure him.

"She'll be alright, Duke. She's been through worse. Much worse," he added, thinking back to just three months prior, when she'd lost her eye. Duke wasn't taking this much easier, which was weird, since she tended to be much closer to Wildwing than Duke. Oh, she loved Duke, and thought of him as her father, but Wildwing was more like a brother to her – he'd certainly come to see her as a little sister – and there were things you could talk about with siblings that you couldn't discuss with parents.

Which probably explained why Wildwing hadn't put up a fight when told to stay put in the infirmary. At least he'd finally convinced Nosedive to go ahead and go to the movie he'd been planning to see with Thrash and Mookie tonight. Blood-sucking something-or-others – a typical Nosedive movie. The poor kid hadn't wanted to leave his brother after such a scare, but after much reassurance that Wildwing was going to be fine, and yes, Emerald would be just fine when she woke up, he'd finally, although somewhat reluctantly, gone anyway.

Sighing tiredly, Wildwing sat up and swung his legs over the side of his bed.

"Duke... _Duke_."

The older drake looked up wearily. "Yeah?"

"Go get some dinner, Duke. She's going to be fine."

Duke looked uncertain. "If she wakes up—"

"If she wakes up, I'll be here. Go on," he urged gently. "She'll be fine."

"I'd rather not—"

"_Go._ I'll call you if she wakes up."

Duke stood slowly, gently placing Emerald's hand back by her side. He eyed Wildwing carefully.

"The _moment_ she wakes up."

Wildwing nodded. "The moment she wakes up. You have my word. Go eat."

Duke sighed heavily and nodded. "All right, all right, I'm goin'." He started to leave, but stopped short in the doorway. "The _moment_ she wakes up?"

"Duke, just go eat."

He finally managed to pull himself out of the room, and Wildwing shook his head.

"Never woulda pegged _him_ for the broody type... Now," he stood by Emerald's bed, looking down at her, "Don't you think it's high time you woke up?"

There was no response, of course. He picked up her hand, holding it as he'd held it before, when they'd both thought they were dying.

"We're not dead, kiddo. We're alive. They found us. But you've gotta wake up, Emerald. Duke's worried about you. Tanya says there's no reason she can find for you to still be out of it. So stop scaring everybody and open your eyes, all right?" He sighed. "You know, if it's any consolation, you're coming dangerously close to beating Nosedive's record for involuntary naps in the infirmary. It'll drive him crazy when he realizes it."

Still nothing. He squeezed her hand, willing her to squeeze back. But she didn't. He sighed. The only reason he could figure for her not waking up was that she hadn't realized she actually _was_ alive. It wasn't every day that you died and were brought back, after all. She'd been in bad shape after the experiment that had turned her from human to duck, had briefly flat-lined thanks to shock and blood loss after losing her eye, but she'd never come _this_ close to dying. But she'd come through both of those and a hundred other minor injuries – the latter of which, at least, were just part of life for all of them. Hell, he himself had a half-healed slash on his thigh from a battle a week ago.

But now she was still out, from what wasn't even that serious, at least by comparison to some of her previous injuries. Except that she'd gone to sleep fully certain that she'd never wake up again; they both had. Only Wildwing had heard his brother, crying and begging him to come back. So he had.

But then... Duke had been talking to her all this time, had been begging _her_ to wake up. So why wasn't she?

"Come on, Emerald, I know you can hear me. Wake up." He leaned over and nuzzled her beak. "Please."

That was how Tanya, Duke and Nosedive found him, twenty minutes later, still leaning over her, his eyes closed, his beak resting gently against hers.

"You should be in bed," Tanya scolded softly. But her tone told him she wasn't going to push the issue. He looked up at them; the expressions on their faces told him his eyes were red, though he already knew his face was wet. He straightened up, still holding her hand, and wiped his eyes with his free hand.

"Still nothin', bro?"

He shook his head. "No. I dunno, she's just..."

Duke stood on the other side of the bed, taking his daughter's other hand. "She'll be all right. She's as stubborn as I am."

Wildwing nodded with a small smile, and Nosedive laughed. "Can't argue with that."

Tanya made a strange sound, and Wildwing glanced over at her. She was fussing over the control panel for Emerald's bed, looking worried.

"What is it, Tanya?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. If... If she doesn't wake up s-soon..." She was nervous, not wanting to say it out loud. Duke prodded it out of her.

"_What_, Tanya?"

"I'm worried that the coma will deepen. I j-just don't understand why she won't, y'know, just wake up."

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

**THIS CHAPTER IS INCOMPLETE**


End file.
